Can Strength Training Reduce Hot Flashes?The Trials and Follow-Up

One small resistance-training trial reported fewer hot flashes after 15 weeks. Assessing that result requires looking at the program, symptom measurement and follow-up.¹

What the Swedish trial found after 15 weeks

A 2019 trial randomized 65 postmenopausal women who were not exercising regularly and had at least four moderate or severe hot flashes or night sweats daily. The analysis included 58 women.¹

After 15 weeks, the training group reported a 43.6% average reduction in moderate and severe episodes, compared with 2.0% in the group asked to keep its usual activity. The adjusted difference at week 15 favored training by 2.7 episodes per day, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.3 to 4.2 fewer.¹

These were diary reports. Participants knew their assigned group, and the comparison group did not receive equivalent weekly professional attention. Fourteen participants did not complete diaries through week 15; ten were in the control group. The average does not predict everyone’s response.¹

What the training program involved

The program used six seated machine exercises and two body-weight exercises, with two sets of eight to twelve repetitions. Participants aimed for three sessions weekly, and a physiotherapist supervised at least one session each week.²

Those details matter when comparing the trial with a gym class, a resistance-band video or a weighted vest worn on walks. The study does not establish that these different routines produce the same hot-flash response.

What happened at six months and two years

The follow-up, published in 2024, found that the original training group still had fewer moderate and severe episodes at six months. At two years, the original groups no longer differed significantly.²

By then, the comparison was no longer continued training versus continued inactivity. After the initial trial, the control group received a four-month gym membership and an introduction to resistance training. Both groups received messages encouraging physical activity.²

Women who started menopausal hormone therapy were excluded from the symptom analysis, leaving 46 participants for those follow-up outcomes. This smaller, changed comparison cannot show that exercise stops helping after a particular number of months. It also cannot support a claim that the initial program guarantees two years of symptom relief.²

A newer trial measured severity rather than episode counts

A December 2025 trial randomized 38 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 65 to a combined program or control group; 36 completed it. Training included body-weight exercises twice weekly and moderate-intensity walking three times weekly for twelve weeks.³

The authors reported improved vasomotor symptom severity on the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire, along with sleep improvements. They did not collect daily hot-flash counts. The questionnaire asks about symptom experience and bother, so its result cannot be converted into a number of fewer flashes per day.³

Because the program combined walking and resistance work, it cannot isolate strength training’s contribution. Participants knew their group, the sample was small, and there was no long-term follow-up. It adds evidence about a particular combined program without resolving durability or identifying the best exercise type.³

How this fits with professional advice

The Menopause Society’s⁴ 2023 position statement did not recommend exercise as a treatment for vasomotor symptoms, grading the evidence as limited or inconsistent. It recognized other health benefits of exercise. The December 2025 trial came afterward, so that statement could not have assessed it.⁴

The Society’s patient guidance also distinguishes exercise’s value for overall health from established hot-flash treatments. It advises considering hormone or nonhormone prescription treatment when symptoms remain significantly disruptive.⁵

You do not need to make exercise improvement a condition of asking for help with night sweats or interrupted sleep.

Set two goals for the review

If you are starting a strength program, ask the professional advising you to specify a suitable routine and how it should progress. Bring any joint pain, previous injury or exercise-related symptoms into that conversation.

Keep a separate symptom record: episodes, night waking, intensity and disruption to work or daily activities. Note changes in medicines or other treatments alongside it. A reduction in bother can matter even when the number of episodes changes little, but the record should identify which outcome improved.

Try: “I want to build strength, and I also need help with night sweats. How should we address both, and when should we review my symptoms?”

For a different nonmedicine approach studied at work, see self-help CBT for problematic hot flashes.

Chapter 5, “The Heat,” in My Body Changed. Now What? distinguishes coping measures, symptom outcomes and treatment options. Use that distinction when discussing what you hope an exercise program will change.